


Is This Where it Ends?

by knoXville



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, B-Team, Fake AH Crew, How Do I Tag, Original Character(s), Psychological Torture, Torture, lots of blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9916172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knoXville/pseuds/knoXville
Summary: Jeremy is the new guy. The new guy gets kidnapped. That's just the way it is. Jeremy understands that. He's dealt with it before, so why does this time feel so different?





	1. Chapter 1

They’d been preparing for this heist for weeks now. It wasn’t the first heist Jeremy had ever participated in, but it was the first one he’d helped plan.

“So guys. Our previous heists have had varying levels of success and failure. Mostly failure. I’ve figured out why. Kerry.”

They’d gone out to prepare for the heist; buying outfits, acquiring vehicles, and prepping Geoff’s yacht for the interrogation.The heist had started without trouble. The area was rigged and everyone was in the perfect position. Kerry arrived on time and fell for their, admittedly, stupid plan. Geoff and Jeremy continued to unload bullets around the limo then begin to head towards the bifta. “We’ve got cops on us!” Geoff screamed. Jeremy turned around and began to shoot.

“Go Geoff! I'll keep 'em busy!” he yelled.

“What about you?” Geoff questioned.

“I’ll be fine,” Jeremy replied. “I’ll just borrow one of these cops' cars. I’m sure they won’t mind.” He smiled and filled another cop with lead. Geoff sprinted back towards the bifta and hopped in, driving away. "Fucking pigs!" He heard in the distance before his ear was filled with Michael and Ryan’s screaming.

“We’re surrounded!"

“Where are you with those charges, Gavin?”

“I’m taking pictures.”

“Ryan, take his fucking phone.”

“They really want him back.”

“Yeah, he’s a fucking informant.”

Geoff headed towards the water in an attempt to meet up with Jack. He arrived at the rendezvous point a few minutes before Jack pulled up in his boat. “Where’s Lil J?” Jack asked.

“He’s fine. He took a cop car and got out of there. He’ll meet with us on the beach.” Geoff replied. Then they switched vehicles and Geoff started towards the beach.

The boat smoothly cut through the river. Water splashed up and mist seemed to surround the moving vehicle. Despite his confidence in their abilities, Geoff couldn’t help but worry for the assholes that had somehow become his family. His worry increased when he realized that Jeremy hadn’t said a word since Geoff left him with the cops.

 _Did one of the cops get him? Is he dead? Maybe he was arrested. What if he crashed?_ Geoff couldn’t help the pessimistic thoughts that entered his head. He hated working with someone as young as Jeremy and he, as well as the rest of the crew, felt very protective of the young man. But Lil J enjoyed his job and he was very good at it (despite being vertically challenged). Geoff shook the currently irrelevant thoughts from his head and turned back to the heist, as the situation steadily got worse.

“We are approaching the bridge. Are the charges ready?” Ryan screamed.

“The bridge is rigged." Gavin replied. 

“We’ll fire a flare when we’re there. Get ready.” Several seconds later, Geoff heard a loud explosion through his earpiece and then a yell from Michael. “You almost killed us!”

“Hey Gavin,” Kerry called.

Then Geoff noticed that the trees were no longer passing by as fast and he heard a soft putt-putt as the propellor came to a slow stop. “Goddamnit!” he screamed. “My boat died. I’m just gonna run. Jack, you can pick me up, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there. Ryan, Michael, how are you doing?”

“Not great,” Michael replied. “We're taking hits! Gavin, we have to go through a tunnel. Pick us up on the other side.”

“No, no, no, that’s bad. I’d have to fly over the military base. Come back this way.”

“Nevermind!” Ryan screamed. “We’re leaving Kerry behind and getting the hell out of here. We’ll meet you at the safe house.”

“But we worked so hard!” Geoff said.

“Yeah, well, I’d prefer not to die,” Ryan replied. “We’re on foot now. Jack, we’re headed down to the beach. Can you pick us up?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok,” Geoff said, “We’ll all head back to the safe house. You got that Jeremy?” A tired “yeah” responded and for the first time, Geoff was reassured that Lil J wasn’t dead. After making sure the cops were off his back, Geoff got into the plane with Jack.

“The cops are busy with Kerry. I don’t think they know where we are. Pick us up now,” Ryan said.

“We’ve landed on the beach. Get your asses down here.”

The door of the plane opened and a bloody and sweaty Michael entered followed by Ryan, who was in a very similar state. “Where’s Jeremy?” Ryan asked.

“He’s meeting us at the safe house.”

The plane took off and Geoff watched as the ground got further and further away. The plan hadn’t worked but at least they knew who had been talking. He turned around and looked at Michael and Ryan. Michael had a blood-soaked bandage on his arm and was leaning over a limp Ryan. “Is he okay?”

Michael looked up and nodded. “He should be fine. He took a bullet to the stomach but his vest mostly stopped it. I’m just patching him up until we can get better supplies. How much farther?”

“We’re almost there. I’m going to land in the field about half-a-mile north. Can Ryan make it?” Michael nodded as a British voice crackled over the coms. “I’ve reached the safe house.”

The plane began its descent and came to a slow stop in a grassy field. Michael pulled Ryan off the floor and allowed Ryan to lean on him. Eventually, Jack and Geoff took him to keep strain off of Michael’s arm. After 15 minutes, the group arrived at the safe house and laid Ryan on the kitchen table.

A quick inspection revealed another bullet right above his right knee and in his left arm. Jack pulled his bulletproof vest off then his shirt and Gavin ran out with the first aid. Jack cleaned out the wounds and quickly stitched them up before moving to Michael and fixing his arm too. Geoff picked Ryan up and brought him to his room. “Ryan will be fine,” he told Gavin, after seeing a worried look cross his face. “Is Jeremy back yet?”

Gavin shook his head. “I haven’t heard from him.” Geoff sat on the couch with his head in his hands. _It’s okay. Lil J had the farthest to go and he had cops on him. He’s probably fine._ “He’s not answering.” Gavin’s voice broke through Geoff’s thoughts. “He’s probably just out of range,” Jack said from behind them. “Let’s get some rest and he’ll be back when we wake up.”

Geoff nodded, glad for Jack’s voice of reason. He watched as Jack walked to Ryan’s room to check on him and then head into his room. Geoff soon followed, pulling Gavin along and forcing him to rest. As soon as Geoff hit the bed, he was out. However, his sleep was far from peaceful as he was plagued with nightmares about every possible way the heist could’ve gone even worse.

$$$$$$$$$$

When he awoke, he could hear voices streaming in from the kitchen. He attempted to pull himself out of the bed, but found he couldn’t move. It didn’t take him long to realize he wasn’t in the penthouse. Jeremy looked up at his hand to see it had been handcuffed to a small, dirty cot. He looked around the square room he was in. It was small and smelled like shit. It was also damp, and a floor that obviously used to be covered with dirt was now almost mud. He tried to remember how he’d gotten there, but all he could recall were headlights moving straight towards him then a strong smell like alcohol. His thoughts were interrupted as the voices outside the door got louder and someone approached.

The door banged open and several large men entered. The first one unlocked his hand and then he was shoved out of the room. The man grabbed his hands again and pulled out the handcuffs. Jeremy pulled away but was grabbed by the other men. “Stop resisting,” one of the men whispered in his ear only moments before a white-hot pain ripped through his leg. He cried out in pain and the man took this as an opportunity to handcuff him.

Jeremy looked down at his leg to see blood pouring out and a little white bone poking through the wound. The son of a bitch had snapped his leg. It hurt like hell, and, as he was dragged down the hallway, every bump and jostle sent a fresh wave of pain through his body. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway and he was thrown into a wooden chair in a larger square room. His hands were chained to the arms of the chair and the three men left him alone.

He looked around the large room. It was dimly lit with the only light being on him, and there was a table filled with different knives and other scary-looking torture devices. He smiled. After working with the Vagabond (and the rest of the crew for that matter) he wasn’t so easily scared. Jeremy looked up as he heard footsteps enter the room. “You know your mistake, right?” Jeremy called out with a smile. “The Fake AH Crew will be here to rain hell down on you.”

The footsteps stopped as a man stood in front of him, just out of the light. “Jeremy Nicholas Dooley,” the man said looking at a file. Jeremy’s head whipped up and stared at the man. No one outside the crew knew what his real name was, not even Kerry. To the public he was simply Rimmy Tim. He kept his identity secret which gave him an advantage over the other crew members.

“25 years old,” the man continued. “Born in Winchester, Massachusetts. Newest member of the Fake AH Crew. Replacement for Brownman aka Ray Narvaez Jr.” There was that word, replacement. Every day, whether through an inside joke or a mention of Ray’s skills besting his own, he was reminded that he wasn’t actually a member of the gang. He was just a placeholder until the original member came back. The man walked around until he came up behind Jeremy. “You don’t really think they’ll come for you, right?” Jeremy could hear the sneer in his voice and the man laughed as he walked away. “All yours, boys!” he called.

Jeremy looked around to see the same three men approaching him. He finally got a good look at the. One appeared to be asian with a long scar running down his face and the man next to him was short (only a couple inches taller than Jeremy) with tattoos covering his arms. The third man was large but had no distinguishing features besides his horrible haircut.

Scarface seemed to size him up before delivering a blow to Jeremy’s stomach that knocked the air out of him. As he was gasping, Tattoo’s fist connected with his jaw and Haircut quickly followed up with a kick to his broken leg. Pain shot through him and, despite his best efforts to remain quiet, he let out a scream.

The men continued to alternate, systematically beating the shit out of him. When they finally let up, Jeremy could barely breathe. His right eye was swollen shut and he was 98% certain that he had at least three cracked ribs. He could already see bruises appearing on his arms and legs. His left leg now felt like it was burning and it looked ten times worse than when it was first broken.

He looked up when his hands were released and the men picked him up and then dropped him on the floor. His leg was jarred and a sharp pain raced through him, leaving his vision blurred. He was pulled up again and dragged down through the hallway. The farther they went, the more nauseous he got. He was thrown on the rough bed and handcuffed again. Moments after they’d shut the heavy door on him, Jeremy leaned over the cot as far as he could and vomited.


	2. Chapter 2

Geoff yawned and walked out of his room to see all of his crew surrounding the kitchen table. “How ya feeling, Ryan?” he asked as he passed. Ryan flashed him a thumbs up and a smile which Geoff returned before pulling a beer out of the fridge. He looked back at the table and was met with somber expressions. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Jack looked around uncomfortably before replying, “Jeremy hasn’t come back yet.” 

“What!” Geoff exclaimed. “That’s, like, 12 hours of no contact. We need to go out and look for him.” They all nodded, but continued to sit around the table. 

“Where do we start?” Gavin asked, uncertainly. 

“How about traffic cameras?” Ryan suggested. “Gavin, can you start looking at those? Jeremy responded at 8:14 so it would’ve had to been after that.” Gavin nodded and sprung up from the table, happy to have something to do. 

“Jack, how about you and Michael drive his route and see what you can find. Make sure he didn’t just, like, crash or something.” Jack got up and started heading towards the door with Michael close behind. 

Ryan turned towards Geoff. “Let’s go talk to some contacts and see if anyone’s heard about a kidnapping. Taking a member of the Fake AH Crew is considered an accomplishment. They probably bragged to someone.” Ryan went to stand but fell back in the chair as pain shot through his body. 

“ _ I  _ will go talk to my contacts,” Geoff said. “You can stay here and make sure you’re rested. Help Gavin if you need something to do.” With that, he spun around and exited the penthouse. He still held the beer in his hand and he took one last drawn-out sip before chucking it onto the road. It shattered and beer and glass flew through the air. Geoff took a deep breath before pulling out his phone. 

“Hello?” a tired man said on the other side of the phone.

“Hey Burnie. How ya doing?” Geoff replied. 

“Pretty good,” Burnie responded. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got a guy missing, goes by the name of Rimmy Tim. Have you heard anything?”

Geoff could hear a rustling noise from Burnie’s side of the conversation and knew he was moving. 

“Sorry, no,” Burnie said. “As far as I know, no one’s said a word about a Rimmy Tim or a member of FAHC being kidnapped or arrested.”

Geoff sighed. “Okay, but it's still early. Can you talk to your guys for me?”

“Yeah, sure. This one means a lot to you, huh?” 

“He’s a member of my crew. I’m not going to leave him.”

$$$$$$$$$$

As much as Jeremy hated to admit it, the creepy man was probably right. The crew had left him. After all, he was just Ray’s replacement. That meant he had to get out of here by himself. Jeremy turned his head so his non-swollen eye could see the handcuff. A long time ago, back when he still didn't trust the crew, he'd sewn a lock pick into the hem of his pants. At the time, he hadn't believed that the Fake AH Crew was any different from other crews and thought that it was best to be prepared. Now, he ripped it out and began trying to open the lock. After about a minute of working on the lock, it sprung open, releasing his aching wrist. He went to stand and immediately collapsed. 

His leg wasn’t in any condition to receive his weight, but, unfortunately, it was critical for his escape. He cursed the sense it made and wished his captors were a little stupider. Finally, Jeremy was able to pull himself up and he put as little weight as possible on the destroyed limb. He grimaced but was able to pick the lock on the door and drag himself out into the hallway.

Jeremy looked up and down the long hallway, but the only way out seemed to be through the “torture room”. He began his long trek down the hallway and, after several rests and waves of nausea, he reached the door. He pushed it open and looked for any other exits. His eyes eventually landed on a door across the room and he limped towards it, this time stopping only to retrieve a knife. 

He jiggled the handle but the door was, unsurprisingly, locked. Once again, he spent a while trying to pick it and the nausea continued to bombard him. He had to stop to throw up but he was stubborn and a little vomit wasn’t going to stop him. Finally he managed to get the door open. Jeremy put his hand on the door frame and pulled himself up only to fall back to the ground as the heavy, metal door slammed on his hand.

Jeremy dropped his knife and cried out in pain as he felt the bones in his hand shatter. The door opened and Haircut stepped out. Jeremy tried to scramble away, but soon found his puddle of vomit. Haircut kicked him in the chest and he fell back into the throw-up, covering his hair and back. Then Tattoo step out from behind Haircut and ground Jeremy’s broken hand into the floor with his heavy boot. Blood was now pouring out of his hand and leg, mixing with the vomit that covered the ground. 

Jeremy’s head was swimming and he could hear someone distantly screaming. It was only after his throat began to hurt and the scream became hoarse that he realized it had been him. A sharp pain shot through his body over and over again, and his bruised body yelled at him for being so stupid. 

Haircut retrieved Jeremy’s knife and stabbed it in between his ribs which ripped another scream from his sore throat. Scarface looked at Jeremy, shaking his head. “Not the best idea you’ve ever had,” Jeremy heard just before the blood loss took him under.


	3. Chapter 3

Geoff pulled out his phone, but Burnie still hadn’t responded. It had been a week since Jeremy had disappeared, but they still didn’t have a lead. It was like Jeremy had just dropped off the grid. It reminded Geoff way too much of Ray, but at least he had left a fucking note.

_What if he just left? Maybe he just wants us the leave him alone. Maybe this job was too much for him. Jeremy’s young, he can’t be expected to deal with this. Maybe we should stop looking for him._

Geoff sighed then shook away these thoughts. Lil J loved what he did and seemed to be in no position to leave. Geoff also knew that Jeremy was stubborn and liked to face things head-on. He would’ve confronted them face-to-face if he was going to leave. Geoff turned around and walked back inside the large penthouse.

As soon as he entered the house, it was obvious that Jeremy’s absence was being felt. He could see bags around Gavin’s eyes that made it look like he hadn’t slept since Jeremy… left. Jack’s normally combed hair stuck out in different directions and his beard looked incredibly unkempt. Michael and Ryan were nowhere to be seen.

“Gavin,” Geoff said as he approached the British man. “Why don’t you go take a nap? I can have Ryan look over the traffic cams.”

Gavin shook his head. “No, no, I have to find him.” Geoff shut the laptop in front him and Gavin looked up at him, glaring.

“You need to sleep. We can’t find Jeremy if we’re all trying to kill ourselves.” Gavin reluctantly pulled himself off the couch and stumbled towards his room.

Geoff turned around and looked at Jack, who was seated at the kitchen table. “Where’s Michael and Ryan?” he asked.

“Michael went to go drive the route one last time and Ryan went into Jeremy’s room a while ago,” Jack responded without looking up from the table. Geoff nodded, then walked slowly towards the room and creaked open the door. He stared through the small crack at Ryan whose back was turned towards him.

“Ryan, can I come in?” Geoff asked, knowing that if Ryan had been sucked into his thoughts and he snuck up on him, Geoff would most likely come out of it with a bruise. He watched as Ryan nodded, then came to sit by him on the bed. Jeremy’s previously clean room was now covered with clothes and the drawers from his dresser were piled up on the opposite side of the room underneath new holes in the drywall. The wall Ryan was staring at was now covered in dents and holes, and Geoff noticed that Ryan was cradling a blood-covered hand.

“We should’ve been there for him,” Ryan whispered. “We should’ve protected him. He’s so young. He shouldn’t be in this business. You never should’ve hired him, Geoff.” Geoff looked at Ryan in shock. “And how old were you when you started?”

Ryan shrugged and replied, “About 20.”

“What if someone had told you to get out of the business? Would you’ve listen?” Ryan looked up at Geoff for the first time, and Geoff could see tears running down his face. It scared him. Ryan was one of their strongest and toughest.

Geoff tried to console Ryan. “At least when he’s with us, we can protect him.”

“Obviously not,” Ryan replied and Geoff could hear a tired, unamused laugh in his voice. “Do you see him here? He’s gone, Geoff, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Finally, Ryan completely broke down and sobs shook his body. Geoff stood up and backed out of the room to give Ryan privacy until he could collect himself. As Geoff quietly closed the door, the front door banged open and Michael stepped in, smelling like a barbeque. “I found something,” he said.

$$$$$$$$$$

When Jeremy awoke in the dark room later, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his hand was no longer handcuffed. The little light that came from underneath the door illuminated medical supplies and food in the middle of the room. As he went to push himself up, Jeremy was painfully reminded of his injuries. He stumbled towards the supplies and knelt down beside them. He opened the bottle of water and greedily downed half of it before setting it to the side and inspecting what else was on the tray.

There was a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a needle, some thread, and a stale piece of bread. He took the rubbing alcohol and poured it over the stab wound. As soon as the liquid entered the wound, it began to to sting and Jeremy hissed in pain. After making sure the wound was suitably cleaned, Jeremy picked up the needle and thread. With only one working hand, it was more difficult than he’d liked to admit to thread the needle. After about five minutes of feelings of frustration and helplessness, he finally managed to do it. Jeremy congratulated himself on the small victory then proceeded to sterilize the needle with the rubbing alcohol.

Stitches were a normal part of Jeremy’s life, but when the needle pierced his skin he couldn’t help but groan. Each pierce felt like pure agony to his bruised skin. Finally he managed to pull the last thread through and tied it off. He leaned up against the wall and sighed in relief. He grabbed the piece of bread in a small effort to keep up his strength then slowly downed the rest of the water. Jeremy’s eyes began to droop, but he forced himself to stay awake. As much as he wanted to ignore it, his body had one more necessity. He pulled himself into the far corner, crouched down, and relieved himself.

$$$$$$$$$$

Jeremy’s eyes opened hours later as he felt himself being roughly pulled off the floor and into the hallway. He thought about fighting back, but that hadn’t really worked out for him last time. They reached the end of the hallway and he was again restrained in the chair then left alone until the creep returned.

“Jeremy Dooley aka Monster Truck.” Once again, Jeremy found himself being surprised at the man’s information. Monster Truck was a name that he had gone to great lengths to bury after he’d left Boston. “Worked for the Irish mob under Shannon McLean. Joined at age 15 after a short career of underground fighting. You climbed the ranks pretty quickly, huh? In just two years, you led a small team.” Jeremy had had enough of this; his past was private, something he’d worked hard to forget.

“What do you want?” he asked. “Ransom money? Information about the Fakes?” The man shook his head and tutted.

“No, there’s a certain reward I’m here to collect. What was it that your boss said last time you saw him? ‘ _You’ll die the way he died._ ’” The man put on a exaggerated Irish accent. Then, with that final comment, the man walked around the outskirts of the light and disappeared from Jeremy’s sightline. However, he could hear the door open and immediately knew what was happening.

The three men stood in front of him again, but it appeared they had graduated from fists. Tattoo held a pair of pliers while Scarface brandished some scary-looking garden shears. He wished he’d taken the opportunity to run earlier and at least put off this torture. Haircut grabbed his left hand and held it steady as Scarface and Tattoo both moved their torture devices towards it. His hand was tormented by the pain as he felt a nail slide free from his ring finger only seconds before the top digit of his middle finger was taken off.

But they didn’t stop there. Haircut ripped off Jeremy’s right shoe and he screamed as every nail was pulled from its original setting. His toes were raw and even contact with the air made them throb. He curled his toes in an attempt to shield them from his attackers, but that caused pain to burst from them and forced another scream to let itself loose. He leaned over, panting, and whimpered. “Please stop. Please.” Tears streamed down Jeremy’s face and he berated himself for breaking so quickly.

“Please,” he whispered again. “Leave me alone. Please stop.” His begging was drowned out by laughter.

“Is this all it takes to bring a Fake to his knees? The great Rimmy Tim…” Jeremy yelled as his middle finger was reduced by another digit. “Broken.” With one last snip from the shears, his finger was completely gone.

The men laughed again and Scarface moved closer to him. “You’re a real pathetic piece of shit, you know that? No wonder your crew left you. Who would want to deal with a bawling baby?” The tears fell even harder now and Jeremy found he couldn’t stop as the saltwater dripped off his face. Tattoo released his hands and dragged him back to his cell. His hand was put back in the handcuff and he curled up in a tight ball as sobs continued to rack his body. His entire body hurt, but the worst torment was knowing that he’d let the crew down and they weren’t coming for him. He fell asleep with his mind weighed down by the thought that he would have to live like this for the rest of his life, no matter how long.


	4. Chapter 4

“What’d you find?” Geoff asked Michael.

“I was driving the route again and I decided to go a little off course because, well, you know, he was being chased by the police and there’s no telling where he might’ve ended up,” Michael rambled. “Anyways, I found some a crash up in the woods a little bit. It was definitely Jeremy.” Michael set Jeremy’s hat on the table just as Gavin came bursting out of his room.

“Did you find him?” Gavin asked hopefully. Michael sadly shook his head. “But we do have a lead. I think there’s a traffic cam relatively close to where the crash was.” Gavin ran over to the couch and opened his laptop again as Michael did his best to point out where he’d been. When they finally found the location, Gavin squealed in delight and returned to his work with renewed strength.

“Michael?” Jack asked. “Why do you smell like smoke?”

Michael shrugged and smiled. “These cops were in my way. Now they aren’t.” Geoff chuckled then joined Gavin on the couch, hoping that a fresh set of eyes might help. It didn’t. Two hours later, Michael was fast asleep and Geoff’s eyes stung. “Nothing,” Gavin muttered. “We’ve scoured all of the footage. That crash happened before 8:14. It couldn’t have been Jeremy.”

“Try looking before he responded. Maybe he’d already crashed,” Geoff suggested.

“Wouldn’t he have said something?” Gavin asked. “Maybe not,” Geoff responded. “Jeremy probably didn’t want to worry us.” Gavin looked up at him, discouraged, but moved the time frame back and continued to watch the bad quality video. Geoff watched as Gavin’s sleep loss caught up with him and the British man fell into a deep sleep. Geoff continued to stare at the bright screen and watched as car after car flew past. Just as he began to drift off, a police car appeared on the edge of the screen.

The cop was flying and quickly disappeared off the screen. For a second Geoff thought it was a false alarm, but the car came back, flipping across the screen before coming to stop in the woods. Several people ran towards the car and pulled a body out. They dragged him back to a red van and Geoff could easily tell the body was Jeremy. His anger grew as he watched the men roughly threw Lil J into the van. Geoff shook Gavin and he slowly opened his eyes. Geoff pointed out what he had found and Gavin did his best to track them. Geoff peeled himself off the couch just as Ryan exited Jeremy’s room. “You okay?” Geoff asked. Ryan nodded and Geoff caught him up.

“Then who responded to you?” Ryan asked, bringing up a valid point.

“I don’t know,” Geoff said shrugging. “He only said one word. All they had to do really was find someone who sounded slightly like Jeremy. We really aren’t all that observant during heists.”

“They took him to the airport!” Gavin called from the couch, interrupting their conversation. Geoff and Ryan rushed over and stared at the bright screen that showed what they both wanted and didn’t want to see.

“He could be anywhere by now,” Ryan groaned.

“Someone has to know where they went right?” Gavin said, desperately. Geoff nodded. “Let’s head down there. At least, it's a start.” They all quickly agreed and prepared to head to the airport. It was just then, as he watched everyone prep, Gavin and Jack stumbling around, Ryan wrapping his hand, and a look of anger obscuring Michael’s features, that he realized how broken this had made them.

$$$$$$$$$$

“Where is he?”

The man in front of them groaned as another fist slammed into his stomach. “I don’t know,” he gasped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ryan looked at him and, even with his mask on, he was able to convey his anger. He slipped a knife out that was hidden in the sleeve of his jacket and touched the cool metal to the man’s skin.

“A week ago, three men came to this airport in a ugly, red van. A van that, is in fact, still parked here. Those three men brought a _human being_ onto a small plane. They weren’t discreet about it at all. Now are you really telling me that you don’t have even the slightest idea what I’m talking about?” The man shook his head and somehow (though Geoff didn’t believe it was actually possible) his eyes seemed to widen even more just before Ryan’s knife flashed. The man fell to the ground, clutching his throat.

Ryan shook his head. “Let’s move on.” They left the man in his small office that he probably worked his ass off to get and went to retrieve a new victim. They had all of the employees (meaning five people) in a large hangar. “You find anything?” Gavin asked. Ryan shook his head and grabbed the employee closest to him. It was a woman about Ryan’s age with huge, innocent eyes. They silently pleaded with him to set her back down, but Ryan was too focused on finding Jeremy.

The woman began to whimper as Ryan pulled her towards the office. Geoff followed him with a grim look on his face. As soon as they entered the small room, the woman spun around on Ryan and threw herself at him. Her full weight hit him and he fell backwards and his head slammed on up against the wall with a surprising force. He slumped and fell to the floor, unmoving. The girl turned on Geoff and pulled a knife out of her waistband. Her eyes had shifted from the innocent look to an angry, but slightly amused shine.

“You’ll never find your boy.” Geoff backed up, surprised by her heavy, Irish accent. “Honestly, I half expected you to never even connect us to the airport.” She continued to advanced on him but stopped abruptly as a loud bang echoed through the room. The woman looked down at her hand as blood begin to run from it and the knife dropped to the ground.

“Now tell us where Jeremy is,” Ryan growled putting his gun to the back of the Irish woman’s head. Geoff shoved her towards the chair and pulled a zip tie out of his backpack. He zip tied her hands behind the chair.

“I’m not saying a damn thing,” the woman muttered. Geoff shook his head and smiled. “I think you’re mind will be changed by the time the Vagabond’s done with you.”

Geoff left Ryan to his business and went to join the others in the hangar. Jack quickly noticed the blood that had splattered across Geoff’s dirty tux. “What happened?” he questioned.

“Information,” Geoff responded with a grim look, “as long as she talks.” They left it at that and the silence was filled with screams echoing from across the airfield. Finally, over three hours later, Ryan entered the hangar, covered with blood, both his and the woman’s. He ripped off his mask and smiled at them. “Massachusetts.” They all grinned at the mercenary, happy for a real lead. In his joy, Gavin ran up to Michael and gave him a hug.

$$$$$$$$$$

The door banged open again, and Jeremy groaned, knowing he would inevitably be put through some form of pain. But when he looked, he was met with the unnerving sight of Geoff’s disappointed face staring at him. “You fucked up. You realize you can be replaced, right? We don’t need you.” Jeremy watched in horror as the other four appeared in the doorway behind Geoff then begin to advance.

Ryan, wearing the full Vagabond get-up, reached down and rubbed his finger across Jeremy’s toes. Pain shot through Jeremy, but he bit his lip, determined not to show how weak he was in front of his crew. Michael began to run his hand up Jeremy’s leg before digging his hand into the gash his bone made ripping through his skin. Jeremy bit his lip again and he felt blood begin to leak from his mouth, but, as Michael dug his fingers in even deeper, he screamed.

Geoff shook his head at Jeremy with a smirk on his face. “I thought you were better than this, stronger than this. How wrong I was.” Michael pulled his fingers away, but the pain still lingered. Fear began to show on his face and wanted to run, but he was still handcuffed to the bed. He pulled himself into a ball, trying to make himself as small of a target as possible. Geoff walked up to him and looked intently at him. Jeremy made himself look up at Geoff’s eyes. They were cold and distant and Jeremy watched as Geoff’s hand came up and backhand him across the face.

“We brought you in when you had no jobs, when you were lying on the street night after night starving. If we realized who you were, we never would’ve helped you.” Jeremy let out a sob and attempted to coherently respond to Geoff. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Jeremy continued to cry under Geoff’s harsh glare. Michael walked up behind Geoff and shook his head at the young man.

“Is this really all it takes to break you?” The others continued to mock Jeremy and each word made the tears fall even harder. He began to scream, trying to force them to leave him alone. “Leave me alone!” he yelled. Ryan looked at him and began to laugh. The others quickly caught onto his laugh and Jeremy’s ears were filled with the sound of their amusement. Ryan pulled a gun out and pressed it to Jeremy's forehead.

“Bang,” he whispered in Jeremy’s ear.

Jeremy’s eyes flew open as the door closed with a loud bang. The bed was wet, but whether it was from tears, sweat, or blood he couldn’t tell. Honestly, probably all three. He pulled himself into a sitting position and panted, trying to recover from the dream. He’d already made his peace with being stuck here, but he had never realized how disappointed the crew probably was in him.

Once his breathing finally slowed down and his heart stopped racing, he began to notice small, new additions to the room. His toes had been bandaged as well as his finger. His shoe was still missing and he began to assume that he probably wouldn’t be getting it back. They had left another bottle of water and two pieces of bread. The sight warmed his heart even though he knew it was just so he could be tortured longer. He grabbed the water and bread and savored it.


	5. Chapter 5

Hours (minutes, days? It was pretty much impossible to tell time) later, Jeremy awoke to footsteps echoing down the hallway. The door opened before he could register what was happening. The men quickly unlocked his hand and he let out a hiss of pain as his bandaged finger brushed against the bed. Jeremy’s broken ribs were beginning to extremely affect him, and he found it increasingly hard to catch his breath.

The men dragged him down the hallway and his raw toes scraped across the rough floor. He began to barely notice the pain as it just added to his torment. Once again, he was set in the dark room and the men left. He waited, trying to catch his breath and brace himself for the oncoming torture. He began to count. _1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8._ He reached 500, trying to breathe with each number, before starting over.

He reached 500 again for the third time and was preparing to start over again when the door banged open. Jeremy was getting angry; angry that he’d been kidnapped, angry that he was being torture, angry that this man had information that he’d worked so hard to get rid of, but, most of all, angry that this man was making him wait. So when he turned towards Jeremy with only his evil smile illuminated, Jeremy couldn’t stop himself.

“Why are you doing this? All of this for an eight year old bounty? Shannon probably doesn’t give a fuck anymore!”

“You really believe that?” the man growled out. “You killed him. Nobody ever gets over the death of a loved one.” The man pulled something out of his pocket and slipped it on his fingers. The brass knuckles gleamed in the dim light and the man rubbed them as Jeremy tried to defend himself.

“I was just a kid.”

All of a sudden, the man was lunging at Jeremy and, before he had time to register the movements, the man was punching him. Over and over again, Jeremy felt brass knuckles slam into his face. He felt his cheek split open and other cuts on his face reopen. He could taste blood in his mouth. After about the tenth hit, the man backed away and Jeremy leaned over to spit out the blood. He was shocked to see a tooth come tumbling out and he looked up at the man in fear.

The man was turned away from him, chuckling. “I guess my temper got away from me.” He had dropped his American accent and now spoke with a thick Irish accent. He turned towards Jeremy, wiping off his brass knuckles. “‘You will die the way he died.’ How does it feel to be helpless, unable to do anything except what your captors allow you to do? This is how my son lived during his last days. You killed him.”

“Shannon—” Jeremy’s sentence was interrupted as his former boss delivered another blow to his face. “Only family get to use that name.”

After Jeremy had rid his mouth of blood (and another tooth), he tried again. “Mr. McLean, I’m sorry. I had no choice. He was suffering. I’m so sorry.” Shannon shook his head at the trembling man chained in the chair.

“Not good enough. Those men out there are going to kill you eventually, and they’ll get paid. They will get your blood money.” Shannon walked out of the room and Jeremy could hear the footsteps of the three men approaching.

Tattoo held a giant knife and approached Jeremy. He began to cut away Jeremy’s tattered shirt and didn’t seem to care when he “accidentally” sliced Jeremy’s skin. Scarface crouched down in front of him and held up a picture of Chinese writing. “You know what this is?” Jeremy shook his head and Scarface smiled.

“This is the Chinese symbol for traitor. Often, it would be tattooed on the back of traitors to remind him of his sin and to stop others from trusting him. This simple symbol could be the end of a person’s life. We thought about giving you a new tattoo, but we decided this was too old fashioned. We’re in a new world now and we need to put our own twist on this.” For the first time since the men had entered the room, Haircut stepped into his line of vision holding something. Jeremy’s eyes widen as he realized Haircut was holding a heated cattle brand. He walked towards Jeremy and pushed the heated brand onto Jeremy’s chest.

Jeremy began to scream and couldn’t think through the pain. He was vaguely aware of his body convulsing involuntarily and the brand still being pushed onto his chest. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the brand was finally pulled away. He still couldn’t comprehend anything until two minutes later when he stopped screaming and the pain ever-so-slightly dulled.

He looked down at his chest which was now red and puffy, very obviously irritated. However, the symbol was obvious and their point had been made. Tears were threatening again, but he refused to cry, refused to continue to show weakness. His chest burned and breathing was even harder now. He could barely catch his breath, every deep breath ended in a short wheeze.

“Fuck you,” Jeremy panted. They laughed and Tattoo pushed his hand onto Jeremy’s burn. Jeremy bit his lip in an attempt to keep silent, but as he pushed even harder, Jeremy’s scream echoed through the building.

Haircut appeared behind Tattoo and took his knife. He approached Jeremy and ran the knife up Jeremy’s arm. When he approached Jeremy’s elbow, Haircut began to add pressure and it easily sliced through his skin, leaving behind a long gash. He repeated the same thing on Jeremy’s other arm and, before long, both wounds were bleeding heavily. Soon, he moved down to his legs and Jeremy groaned as Haircut slipped his hand underneath the bandage and rubbed the knife across his toes.

He then went to town on Jeremy’s legs. The cuts were shallow, but they stung and there were so many of them. When he finally stopped, Jeremy’s legs were pretty much completely red. The amount of blood scared him and he began to think they didn’t care if he died at this point. Tattoo pulled out the pliers again and Jeremy instinctively curled up his fingers and pulled back his legs. He winced as his many cuts stung.

However, Tattoo didn’t go for his fingers or toes and instead Scarface gripped his hair and pulled his head back. Jeremy’s mouth was wrenched open and he squeezed his eyes shut. He felt the pliers grip his tooth and pain burst from his mouth as yet another tooth was uprooted. Jeremy quickly ran his tongue over his teeth to try and find the missing ones. He found one of his canines was missing as well as two of his bottom teeth. Before he could fully recover, his head was whipped back a second time and the pliers found the tooth next to his still-present canine.  

The tooth was ripped from his mouth and Jeremy could feel blood running out of each hole. The bitter, metallic taste filled his mouth and he spat the blood out onto Scarface. He quickly backhanded Jeremy then wiped the blood of his face. “You know,” Scarface said, “I thought about not doing this, but you just changed my mind.”

Scarface walked around behind Jeremy which gave him just enough time to imagine the horrible things these men could potentially do to him. His shaking got worse and he let out a small whimper. Scarface came back around holding a golf club. He touched it to Jeremy’s good leg and took a few experimental swings. He then brought it down with all of his strength.  

The club slammed into Jeremy’s leg and he let out a loud scream. Scarface brought the club up again and swung at his leg. There was a loud snap and, through the haze of pain, Jeremy realized he was now down two legs.

Scarface ripped him out his chair and tossed him to the floor. Jeremy couldn’t even muster the strength to roll over. He could hear footsteps approaching him but didn’t have time to brace himself. He felt his ribs crack as the club slammed into them. Again and again and again. The world began to blur and all he could feel was pain.

At some point, the beating moved to his back. Jeremy could feel his back begin to sting and a sticky liquid run down it. He was no longer screaming. He was barely breathing. His entire body hurt. He just wanted it to be over. He just wanted to die.

Finally, the beatings receded and he was left to try to catch his breath on the floor. Jeremy’s lungs were filled with blood and threatened to strangle him. He coughed and the blood flew out of his mouth. Then, Tattoo gripped his broken hand and dragged him back to the cell. Jeremy was thrown inside and his head slammed up against the far wall. He groaned weakly and the men laughed. “Goodbye,” Scarface said and blew a kiss at him. They walked away and left the cell door wide open. Jeremy tried to pull himself towards it, but he was too weak. His strength finally gave out and black dots began to dance in front of his eyes. All he could feel was the pain. And the blood. And the broken bones. And the burn. And the weakness. Jeremy kept his eyes on the wide open door until the black dots completely covered his vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole traitor thing was completely made up and I apologize to anyone who likes to be completely historically accurate.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, this chapter was really hard to write.

Geoff pulled himself onto the large plane and sunk into one of the comfortable seats. It had taken way longer than he’d hoped to finally get ready to go. They’d had to come up with a plan, gather materials, and make sure Los Santos was left in good hands. He grabbed one of the many bottles of champagne and poured himself a glass. As the rest of the Fakes filed in, Geoff switched seats and climbed up front with Jack.

He buried his head in his hands as he felt the plane leave the ground. _What if we’re too late? What if he’s already dead?_ Geoff felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to Jack’s kind face. “He won’t be,” Jack said as Geoff realized he must of accidently voiced his thoughts. “Lil J’s too damn stubborn to kill.” The grin on Jack’s face was contagious and Geoff felt the corner of his lips tug up.

Geoff let the movement of the plane comfort him as he fell into a fitful rest. For the first time since they’d realized Jeremy had been taken, his mind began to wander and he dreamed.

_Geoff opened his eyes in a dark, cold room. He quickly realized it was a morgue. He quickly noticed one drawer open with a body hidden underneath a white sheet. Geoff explored the room a little bit, trying to distract himself from the body. But eventually, after thoroughly examining pencils on the opposite side of the room, he made his way over to the body. He didn’t know what he had expected to see hidden underneath the white sheet, but it certainly wasn’t Jack._

_Geoff gasped and stumbled away from him, dropping the white sheet so it once again covered the horrific sight. Behind him another drawer opened as the one holding Jack slammed shut, causing Geoff to scream. He stumbled towards the newly opened drawer and noticed that on the foot of this body was a toe tag. He kept himself from reading the name, but only one other section was actually filled out: the cause of death. All it read was "fucking finally". His eyes moved up to the name: Ryan Haywood._

_Geoff didn’t want to pull off the white sheet, he wanted to keep himself from the pain. But tears were already filling his eyes and he forced himself to view the body. Ryan’s light brown hair was crusted with blood and stuck to his forehead. His face paint hadn’t been washed off and was so smudged it no longer resembled the skull. Geoff slammed the drawer shut and two more opened up._ Not again. I don’t think I can handle another one, _he thought. As he spun to look at the new bodies, he realized that neither of these had a white sheet to cover their bodies. Even from the other side of the room, he could make out their faces._

_Tears began to fall as Geoff realized he would never hear Gavin’s annoying British accent or Michael yell at them. He slumped to the ground and let himself silently sob in the presence of no one but his friends’ corpses. He listened as Michael and Gavin’s drawers slowly closed but what surprised him was to here another one open about five minutes later. Geoff slowly pulled himself off the ground and towards the body. The white sheet was covered with wet blood and the entire room was filled with the sound of it dripping to the ground, forming a small puddle. Geoff looked down at the toe tag, hoping to save himself from a little pain, hoping it wasn’t Jeremy. He looked at the name but was neither relieved nor frightened as it only said "John Doe". Geoff pulled back the sheet and screamed. The body was so blood-covered and mutilated, it was impossible to identify it. But his brain told him it must be Jeremy, that there was a pattern and this followed it. He didn’t want to believe he’d let Jeremy suffer this terrible fate. Lil J’s eye were still open and bored into Geoff’s soul. The eyes were empty and devoid of emotion, nothing at all like Jeremy’s wild, bright, and enthusiastic eyes. Geoff reached down to shut the poor man's eyes but the world dissolved before he could._

Geoff yelped as his eyes flew open, revealing the real world. The dream was nothing but a bad memory now and he reminded himself that they were going to save Jeremy, not let him die. Still, the dream haunted him. Jack reached over and put his hand on Geoff’s shoulder. “We’re here,” he whispered. He got up and exited the plane, leaving Geoff alone in his thoughts. He soon followed Jack and joined the rest of his crew on the runway. “Are we ready, boys?” he said. Michael and Gavin whooped and Ryan shot him a thumbs-up. Jack had a grim smile on his face. “Let’s go get our boy back.”

Finally, after what seemed like years, the group arrived outside of address the women had given Ryan. It didn’t look like an evil lair, it was just a rundown warehouse. Ryan approached the door and kicked it down. It flew off its rusted hinges and slammed into the ground, the loud noise echoing through out the large building. A cold breeze flowed out of the warehouse, causing Geoff to shiver. “Stay alert,” Ryan told them before entering the dark room. The five men began to search the room, before reconvening in the center. “It’s quiet as dicks in here,” Geoff whispered.

They all started heading towards the door on the opposite side of the room. Jack pushed the door open and Geoff noticed this room was also empty. “Is this the right place?” Gavin whispered and Geoff couldn’t help but question himself.

The next room sent both a feeling a relief and fear through him. He was sure they were in the right spot if the knives and blood were any indication. But there was just so much blood. It covered several of the knives and Geoff could barely make out a red stain on the floor. He heard footsteps speed up and watched as Michael took off towards the next door. The door was open and he had disappeared before any of the others reacted. Gavin and Geoff made eye contact before simultaneously taking off after Michael.  

They opened the door again and watched Michael slowly approach an open door. As they got closer to Michael, the smell began to hit Geoff. It smelled like a really shitty bathroom. Behind him, Gavin gagged and turned back. He finally reached Michael and the smell shifted to the overpowering, coppery smell of blood.

In the room, Jeremy laid on the ground, shirtless, with one arm outstretched. Both of his legs were bent in awkward directions and his hand appeared to be smashed. His foot was wrapped in dirty, blood-soaked bandages and he lay in a puddle of his own blood. Geoff was aware of tears that began to blur his vision, but he forced himself not to cry, to be strong for his crew. However, he could only stand there in shock staring at his Lil J before he was finally shoved to the side by Jack and Ryan. Ryan quickly flipped the small body over and attempted to find a pulse.

“He’s breathing,” Jack called. Ryan quickly moved and picked Jeremy up. Geoff could hear him whispering to the unconscious lad as he ran towards the exit. The others followed and they stopped as Ryan carefully laid him in the back of their car. “What do we do?” Gavin whispered. “We can’t handle these injuries. He has to go a hospital now,” Jack said.

Michael didn’t need to be told twice. He hopped in the driver’s seat and started the car. “Get in now!” he yelled. Geoff hopped in shotgun and Gavin sat in the back, resting Jeremy’s head on his lap. He ran his finger’s through the lad’s short hair as Michael sped away, leaving Ryan and Jack to find their own vehicle. Michael was on the road fast, and he began to swerve in between cars as Geoff pulled up the nearest hospital on his GPS. After getting the directions, Michael made the 15 minute drive in five.

Michael grabbed Jeremy from the back and ran into the hospital. Gavin and Geoff weren’t far behind, but by the time they entered, Lil J was being whisked away on a stretcher with doctors surrounding him and yelling a whole bunch a medical shit that Geoff didn’t understand. He walked up to Michael who was talking to a doctor probably getting the paperwork squared away. Then, he, Gavin, and Michael were led to a waiting room.

Everything after that seemed to blur together. At some point, Ryan and Jack joined them and Michael apologized for leaving them behind. People flowed in and out of the small waiting room and Geoff began to comprehend things again the next morning as a doctor entered. “Are you the family of Jeremy Dooley?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed. Easter break is finally here so hopefully I'll get lots of writing done.


	7. Chapter 7

The world blurred together. Voices broke through the haze. “It’s okay. I got you. Don’t die now, Lil J.” He felt fingers rub across his head. Then the darkness came for him again.

His eyes opened up later and he groaned as he was assaulted by a bright room and lights. A blurred hand entered his vision. “Can you hear me? Mr. Dooley, can you hear me?” He felt something prick his skin, and he tried scratch it. However, his hand wouldn’t cooperate and that was the last thing he knew.

$$$$$$$$$$

“Are you the family of Jeremy Dooley?” the doctor asked. They all nodded and the doctor returned their nod as a nervous look crossed his face for a brief second. “Mr. Dooley has just gotten out of surgery. He suffered from extensive internal bleeding. Three of his ribs were cracked. We had to reset both of his legs and his hand. He is missing several nails and a finger as well as four teeth. Mr. Dooley’s body was covered in knife wounds and he had a bad burn on his chest. Almost all of the wounds are infected. He was also incredibly dehydrated and starved. We are doing the best that we can, but the injuries are just too great. We don’t believe he will make it through the day.”

The doctor looked at the floor than back up at them. “I’m sorry. He’s in room 324 if you’d like to visit him.” Jack nodded, thanked the doctor for the update, then left the waiting room. Geoff didn’t want to leave, but he soon joined Jack in the hallway. They all individually entered the small room.

Geoff gasped as he walked in behind Ryan. Jeremy was so pale. So many wires ran to and from his body making him look even more vulnerable. Bandages covered almost all of his exposed skin and several of them were already blood-soaked. Both of his legs were in heavy casts and elevated while his hand was wrapped in a splint. His left hand had been laid over his chest and Geoff became very aware of the missing finger.

Michael had already pulled up a chair in the corner of the room and positioned himself by the bed. Gavin was making himself comfortable on the edge of Jeremy’s bed but was very careful of the wires. Geoff just couldn’t tear his eyes away from Jeremy’s young face. The five of them must of sat around that room for six hours, just waiting. Geoff didn’t really know what they were waiting on: either Jeremy’s death or for him to wake up. Eventually, he began to doze off.

Geoff woke up much later to an insistent beeping. He was getting ready to tell someone to turn the damn alarm off when he remembered where they were. As his eyes opened, the beeping increased and Geoff yelped as he saw Jeremy convulsing on the bed. None of the others were awake, and he really didn’t want to be responsible for Jeremy’s death. Geoff frantically ran into the hallway screaming. “Doctor, nurse, someone!” A doctor peeked out of a door down the hallway, and, after seeing the panicked look on Geoff’s face, started running, picking up several nurses along the way. Geoff tried to follow them into the room but the other Fakes exiting blocked his path. “Sir,” one of the nurses said, addressing him, “we need you to go down to the waiting room again. We’ll keep you updated.”

Geoff hesitated and the nurse gave him a push towards his friends. He stumbled forward and Jack caught him. He was dragged back into the waiting room but stared earnestly at the door, waiting for the doctor to come for them again. But no one ever did and, after two hours, Geoff returned to his nap.

$$$$$$$$$$

Hands were on his shoulders, shaking him. Geoff groaned and tried to push them away. “I’m tired,” he whined. The hands didn’t seem to take no for an answer. “Geoff, wake up.” _Ah, so the hands have a voice._ Geoff finally opened his eyes and saw Michael standing over him. Michael pointed at the door. “The doctor’s here.”

Geoff immediately woke up after that and stared at the doctor, hoping for some good news. The look on the doctor’s face quickly squashed that hope. “Mr. Dooley suffered from several seizures. The seizures caused a large amount of damage, reopened several of his wounds, and reversed much of the progress we’ve made. He’s entered a coma. There is no way of telling when or if he will wake up. If you could wait here for a couple more minutes, the other doctors are still trying to finish up.” Geoff waited around for a little while, but he stared at the door the entire time. Eventually several doctors exited and Geoff began to rush towards the door. However, several nurses entered before he could and he abruptly stopped as he watched the nurses carry out blood-covered sheets. Geoff’s mind began to race and for a moment his brain refused to believe that Lil J would survive. One final nurse exited the room and ushered the Fakes into the room.

$$$$$$$$$$

For the next two weeks, this was their life. Everyone morning when they woke up, the five of them would eat then head over to the hospital. Some days there was hope for Lil J, some days he would suffer from seizures, and some days they were sure they would be burying him. Geoff still wasn’t entirely convinced that Jeremy would pull through, but he tried to be optimistic for the others. Then, as visiting hours came to an end, they would return to their hotel.

Geoff knew they couldn’t keep going on like this for much longer. He could tell the others were getting restless and, to be honest, he was too. Soon, the other gangs would realize that they’d left B-team in charge, and Los Santos would soon no longer be apart of their territory. He couldn’t even trust gangs they were allied with to not take advantage of the opportunity. Trevor had been keeping them updated and suggested that maybe it was best to just leave Jeremy a little bit, give him time to recover without being under the constant watchful eye of his gang. Geoff was seriously considering it.

$$$$$$$$$$

The noises had returned. At first they mocked him. The voices were just too far away for him to hear clearly. He was just too far gone. Garbled speech and loud beeps filled his mind, making him wish he could just turn them off. He had no idea where he was or why he was stuck in an endless black void, surrounded only by the swirling ring of noise. The voices began to get steadily louder until they had evolved into a raging a storm and he tried to scream, tried to force them out. But the noise just penetrated his defenses and continued to grow. Distorted voices continued to bombard him and he couldn’t understand what they wanted. Until one. Until one came closer and spoke clearly.

“Come on Jeremy. You can do it. Come on, you stubborn piece of shit.”

“Time to wake up, kid. You don’t get to leave this easy. You have to say goodbye first.”

More and more voices began to exit the raging tempest.

“Let’s go, Jeremy.”

“We’re never gonna give up on you, so you don’t get to give up on yourself.”

“I’m so sorry, Jeremy.”

“We tried to find you earlier. We looked so hard.”

“We didn’t think they’d bring you away from Los Santos.”

Some of the voices were accompanied by sounds. Even in his current state, he could recognize the sound of sobs. He wanted to tell the voices not to feel bad for him. He wanted to just to tell them he was okay. He wanted to tell them he was fine with not coming back. He wanted to tell them they would be okay without him. But nothing would listen to him. The voices stayed and tried to coax him away from the storm.

“Wake up, Lil J.”

“I miss you.”

“You’ve done a real number on us, Jeremy. Geoff’s a wreck and Gavin’s not far behind."

“Who knew a kid could work his way into our hearts like this?”

For some reason, the voices sounded familiar and comforted him. They surrounded him and pushed back the storm, pushed back the pain. They seemed to hold him, hug him. They helped him get rid of the storm for good. They helped him and supported him as he clawed his way back towards the surface. Then they dispersed, leaving him to finish the journey by himself. For a moment, he felt lonely again and almost sank back down into the void. But he kept going. He remembered the voices and persevered. He took a final step and…

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, he had control over his body, or, at least, part of it. His eyes opened and the bright lights were there again. He immediately shut his eyes. After waiting a couple seconds he opened them again, but the lights still hurt him. He groaned and tried to cover his eyes, but his arms weren’t under his control yet. He began to move his head around and his eyes fell upon someone in the far corner of the small room. It looked like Ryan, but that was impossible. He remembered at some point them saying they weren’t gonna come for him. That might’ve been a dream, it was hard to tell at this point.

Was he dead? But then Ryan wouldn’t be here. Unless, the devil took on the form of Ryan, but that seemed rather unlikely. He continued to stare at Ryan until the man looked up and noticed him. “Jeremy?” he asked.

Jeremy tried to nod, but he couldn’t. “Ryan?” his voice came out scratchy and barely comprehensible, but somehow Ryan still understood him. “Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m gonna go find a doctor, alright?”

“Are you real?” Jeremy asked. His voice still wasn’t really understandable and his throat already hurt so much. Ryan put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m real Lil J.” Jeremy nodded. “Good,” he croaked out. All of a sudden, he wasn’t strong enough to keep his eyelids open and he was plunged back into the void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm no doctor, but if you are feel free to yell at me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a hard time with this one but I hope y'all enjoy

Geoff slowly picked at his food. He’d finally made his decision. After a grand total of 2 and a half weeks away from Los Santos, they would be heading back. He was just trying to find the right time to tell his crew. “Hey guys, where’s Ryan?” he asked, deciding there was no time like the present.

Michael shrugged and Gavin quickly interjected. “I think he was up in Jeremy’s room. He said he was gonna come down in a little while.” Just then, Ryan burst through the cafeteria doors, running towards their table. Geoff looked up at him, distracted. “Oh there you are, Ryan.” Then he noticed the look on his face.

“Jeremy’s awake.”

“What?” Gavin asked, surprised. Michael was already up and running out of the room, but he still answered him. “Jeremy is awake, you stupid piece of shit. Let’s go.” Gavin squealed at Michael’s choice of words, but followed him just the same.

They got to Jeremy’s room just as some doctors were leaving. One stopped Geoff and started to update him. “Mr. Dooley seems to be healing quite well. But his voice hasn’t been used in a while so I would advise you to encourage him to stay quiet for today. We’re gonna have to run a few more tests, of course, but we’ll keep you updated. I’m honestly surprised he’s even alive. Your friend is quite strong.”

Geoff nodded and smiled with a proud look on his face. “Trust me, I know.” He entered the room after that, and, much to his humiliation, immediately began to sob. Jeremy smiled up at him, but then winced and stopped. “Hey guys,” he whispered then began to cough. Geoff placed his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and put a finger up to his lips. “The doctor said you like hurt your throat or some shit so, um, avoid talking.” Jeremy nodded, but seemed to have one more thing to say. “Where are we?”

Geoff looked around at the others and answered. “The people who kidnapped you brought you to Massachusetts. Your injuries were too great and we couldn’t bring you back to Los Santos.” Jeremy nodded again, visibly relaxing and they all sat there awhile in silence, content.

Eventually, the soft noise of Jeremy snoring filled the room and, one-by-one, they filed out with small smiles on their faces for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. Jeremy wasn’t in a coma. He was going to be okay.

$$$$$$$$$$

Geoff awoke the next morning to loud groaning and an obnoxious ring. “Ryan,” he groaned, “pick up the phone.”

He heard an exaggerated “Yes, sir,” then the ringing finally quit.

“Hmhmm, yes. Uh, yes sir.” A pause. “No.” A longer pause. “Okay. We’ll be right there.”

“What is it, Ryan?” Gavin’s annoying voice spoke up and Geoff covered his ears with a pillow. It was too early in the morning to be listening to his squeaky accent. He laid there for a while, hoping to fall back asleep, but Jack’s hand on his back finally forced him to come out of his half-asleep state. “Geoff, Geoff,” Jack said in a singsong voice. He swatted at Jack’s hand, trying to force it away. “Get up, Geoffrey.” His voice more serious now.

“What do you want, Jack?”

“We just got a call from the hospital. They want us to come down there right now,” Jack responded. Geoff quickly sat up, much more awake. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. They just said they wanted to talk to us.”

Geoff nodded then finally pulled himself out of bed and got dressed. He climbed into the car with the others then picked up his phone.

“Hello, who is it?” An angry voice answered.

“Hey, Trevor, it’s me Geoff.” The man on the other end groaned. “Do you even know what time it is?”

Geoff looked at the dashboard clock. “Yeah it’s 6:30.”

“Maybe in Massachusetts, but it’s 3:30 here. Anyways, I’m up. What do you want?”

“Jeremy woke up yesterday so we’re not gonna be headed back yet.” Trevor gasped. “Really? Is he okay?” Geoff shrugged despite knowing Treyco couldn’t see him. “He seemed to healing fine but we just got a call from the hospital. We’re heading there now.”

“Okay. Keep me updated. Aww, I’m not gonna be able to sleep now. Tell him to get well fast. I’ve got to go talk to Matt.” Trevor didn’t even bother saying goodbye and simply hung up.

$$$$$$$$$$

“We brought Mr. Dooley back for some more tests and x-rays.” The doctor pointed at some x-rays he had hung up along the wall. Now Geoff didn’t know much about health or the human body but he was pretty that wasn’t what it was supposed to look like. “Now, as you can probably see here,” the doctor continued, “his legs aren’t healing right. They were pretty much smashed and we hoped that by keeping them in a brace, they would heal correctly but they haven’t. But the thing that is most worrying is his spine. As you know, Mr. Dooley was badly beaten with a blunt object and at some point, his spine was knocked out of line. I’m sorry, but there is a possibility he may never walk again.”

All but the last sentence made no sense in Geoff’s mind. “Wh-What?” he stuttered. “What do you mean he won’t walk again?” He’d thought Jeremy was getting better. He’d thought things would go back to normal. Now there was no hope of that.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor repeated, ignoring Geoff’s question. Geoff was dimly aware of Gavin sniffling behind him and Ryan politely asking to keep the x-rays. They followed the doctor back to Lil J’s room in silence. Jeremy was awake when they entered, but, upon seeing the doctor, his face fell like he was bracing himself for bad news. Geoff sent a half-hearted smile his way in hopes of relaxing the lad a little but it only seemed to make it worse.

“What’s up?” Jeremy asked, trying to sound less worried than he was. The doctor reached towards Ryan and grabbed something from him. The doctor held it up and Jeremy stared at x-rays. It was obvious they were his, if the fractured bones that stuck out at odd angles were any indication. “These are the original breaks,” the doctor said, pointing at the cracks. Half of the bones were completely broken apart and no longer connected to anything. Then he pulled out another set of x-rays. These didn’t look half as bad as the others, but they still shouldn’t be someone’s legs.

“This is what your legs looked like after healing.” Jeremy didn’t need to hear what else the doctor had to say; he got the message well enough on his own. Tears burned his eyes and he knew he couldn’t have stopped them if he wanted. Someone sat on the bed next to him and wrapped their arm around him. Jeremy tried to push away but the tears seemed to sap all his strength.

The tears eventually cleared up and he saw them all surrounding him. “You okay, Lil J?” Jack asked and Jeremy humorlessly laughed. He raised his arm in an attempt to flip them off, but lowered his hand as he remembered they’d taken away that finger. “No, Jack, no I don’t think I’ll ever be okay. Ho-how—” Tears came to his eyes again and he began to stutter. “I can’t do anything without walking. I can’t do the one thing I’ve ever been any good at.”

Geoff looked at him with a pained look in his eyes. “The doctor said there was a possibility you could walk again,” he said, trying to console Jeremy.

“But even if that happens, do really think I’ll ever be able to heist again or keep up with you. Not only that, but I can’t even bend my hand let alone fire a weapon. I think this might be the end of my criminal career.”

Gavin was crying and Jeremy almost felt bad for him. “Don’t say that, Lil J. We can fix this. You-you’ll be okay. When we go back, Caleb can fix you. It’ll be okay. It’ll all go back to normal, you'll see.” Gavin was rambling now and Jeremy raised his hand to stop him.

“You know it doesn’t work like that. As much as I’d love a miracle healing, I think it’s time to face reality. I’ve known for a long time this was going to fuck me, I just chose to ignore it.” He trailed off there and the others didn’t bring it up again. Geoff tried to steer away from the awkward conversation with talk about the weather (and how terrible Massachusetts’ was) and the traffic (and again, it sucks in Massachusetts).

Then: “Why did they take you?” Gavin quietly whispered and all conversation ceased.

“What?” Geoff asked, kind of hoping to discourage him from repeating the question but his curiosity stopped him from doing so.

“Why did they take you?” His voice was now louder. “We never got a ransom note or a request. No one threatened us with your life. No one tried to brag that they’d captured a Fake. Whatever this was, it was personal.”

Jeremy nodded, looking down. When he finally returned his eyes to Gavin’s, they shone with tears. “Yeah, it was personal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The same note from last chapter still stands. Seriously if I'm super off about something, correct me.


	9. Chapter 9

_Jeremy stared up at the man in front of him. His head was swimming from the beating he’d just received. “You want what?”_

  _The man chuckled and a smirk appeared across his face. A heavy Irish accent was evident even in his laugh. “I want you to join my gang. You’re a good fighter and I’m sure we can convince you to keep your mouth shut. Besides, you can’t turn this down. You’re quite obviously pressed for money and I promise to double what you’d make in a night fighting.” Jeremy pretended to contemplate it for a moment, but the man was correct. There was no way he could turn this away. He needed this money. “I’ll do it.”_

  _"Perfect,” the man said smiling. “My name is Shannon McLean. Welcome to the family.”_

  _After that, Jeremy started to do small jobs. Most of the time, this consisted of delivering drugs or information, but as time passed, he began to move up through the ranks._

_“You know, Jeremy,” Shannon started one day after Jeremy had come back from a particularly hard job, “you’ve really shown a lot of promise.” He reached his arm around the smaller man and pulled him off towards a private room. “You’re kinda like my son.”_

_Jeremy smiled because it was true. Shannon made sure the rest of the gang left him alone and he was well taken care of._

  _“I think it’s time to get you put some of that wasted potential to good use. You’ll have a small team. You lead them and report directly to me.” After that, Jeremy was introduced to his team and life was perfect. The jobs were easy especially with four other people to help. His pay was upped and he gained more respect from the rest of the mob._

  _But then one job came up. It was supposed to be easy. They were escorting Shannon’s son Dylan, the heir of the “throne”, to the south side of the city. He was supposed to be negotiating the alliance of a small gang that ruled over a small part of Boston. But it was a trap._

  _As soon as they arrived, a grenade rolled underneath their car. Jeremy was launched through the windshield and he skidded to a stop next to someone. He lifted his head for a second before being introduced to the man’s foot._

  _Jeremy awoke later in a dark room surrounded Dylan and members of his team. The strong metallic scent of blood filled the room, making Dylan cough. “Where are we?” Dylan asked with a slight tremor in his voice._

  _“I don’t know,” he responded, trying to keep all the nerves out of his voice. He tried to pull himself towards Dylan, but a strong wave of pain stopped him in his tracks. Jeremy tried to find the source of his pain, but the room was pitch black and he could barely see his hands in front of his face. The pain seemed to be radiating from his stomach and after feeling around a bit, he found a large piece of glass stuck in his side. It was so slick with blood, it kept slipping through Jeremy’s fingers as he tried to pull it out. He eventually left it alone as he heard footsteps approaching the door._

  _Dylan crawled behind Jeremy and Jeremy shielded him with his body. The door slowly opened and a dark silhouette entered. The man walked right up to Jeremy and stuck something in his neck. From there, it was just black._

  _When he finally came to later, the room was lit up. A small light was swaying from the ceiling and moths were buzzing around it._ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… _he counted the people in room. Only one was missing. Jeremy pulled himself up and felt a pull on the stitches in his stomach._ Wait, what? _Jeremy stared down at what used to be a gaping wound in his stomach that was now expertly sewn shut. He didn’t spend time dwelling on the injury and instead went to check on Dylan. He found that the young man was relatively uninjured with just a few scrapes on his hands. He sat down beside him and let Dylan rest on his shoulder._

  _The young heir was obviously scared and Jeremy could feel him shake as Jeremy urged him to try and sleep. However, his light doze was soon interrupted as the light suddenly disappeared and the door opened. The man entered again and dropped a body into the room. As soon as the door closed, the room was lit up again and Jeremy could see the man on the floor. It was the missing member of his team, Tony. And he did not look good._

  _Jeremy crawled over to him and wiped blood away from the man’s face. Dylan and the other team members joined them and they all laid together, waiting. Eventually the light went out again and Jeremy immediately sat up and watched the door. No one came in. He laid back down and fell asleep._

  _When Jeremy awoke, the man had already come and taken Tony again. Jeremy shook his head and started to explore the room. The room was about 10x15 yrds. The door was a heavy metal that let no light in and there were no windows. There were no obvious cameras, but Jeremy didn’t believe that there weren’t hidden cameras. Eventually, Jeremy sat down and started trying to pry up the tile floor._

  _This was how most days went. Jeremy would spend most of the day messing around, trying to find the cameras, or checking on Dylan. They never saw their captors; they would always turn out the light before entering the room. They got food once a day, but it was never enough for everybody so Jeremy often went hungry. The man always took the same person. For awhile, it was Tony until he was killed. Then they moved on until it was only Jeremy and Dylan left._

  _The lights shut out again and this time Jeremy had to prepare himself. He knew they be coming for him next; Dylan’s life was way more important. But instead, when the door creaked open, two men entered and one picked Jeremy up while the other went for Dylan. “Stop,” Jeremy cried out, trying to protect his boss. “Just take me. Leave him here!”_

  _The men were quickly annoyed and a hard hit to the back of Jeremy’s head silenced him. He and Dylan were both effortlessly carried to another dark room. From there, it was torture. They were both tied to chairs and one of the men approached Jeremy with a large knife drawn. But he turned around and attacked Dylan. Over and over again, Jeremy cringed as Dylan’s skin was ripped through and the screams filled the empty air. Finally the men left them alone and Jeremy could only listen to Dylan’s pained gasps and feel guilty._

  _Time passed so slowly as Jeremy stared at Dylan, but the men soon returned and started in on Dylan again. This went on for several days until the man walked in with a gun in his hand. Jeremy started to panic and thrashed in his bonds. But the ropes soon disappeared and Jeremy quickly stood up. The man was standing in front of him with the gun and flipped it in the air until it landed in Jeremy’s hand._

  _"There is one bullet in that gun. You can either use that to kill me or end your friend’s suffering. But keep in mind there are four of us here. Even if you kill me, neither you nor Dylan will make it anywhere near the exit.”_

  _Jeremy kept the gun trained on the man, but let his gaze stray towards Dylan. The young man was slumped over in his chair, heavily breathing with blood covering so much of the floor around him. Then his eyes shot open. They were filled with tears and were pleading with him. “Just kill me, Jeremy.”_

  _Jeremy shook his head, refusing to let him die. “You’ll be okay. We’ll get out of here.”_

  _“We can’t. There’s too many people. Please just kill me.”_

  _Jeremy shook his head again, but he moved the guns towards Dylan. Tears filling his eyes, he pulled the trigger. Then he heard a loud click and looked up to see a camera being turned off. “Wh-what are you doing?” he stammered out._

  _The men surrounding him laughed and one spoke up. “We tortured all the others, and they gave us all the information we could possibly need. All that was left was to find somebody to take the fall for this. Who better than the man Shannon dared to call his son. Who has been well taken care; we stitched you up, but let everyone else’s injuries go untreated. Now, for the icing on the cake, you’ve just murdered his real son. Good luck getting out of this one.”_

  _Jeremy crumbled to the ground with the gun still in his hand. Shannon loved Dylan more than anything in the world and there was no way he would believe that Dylan asked to be killed. Jeremy was royally fucked._

  _The men left him on the floor and left the building. After several hours, Jeremy finally stood up and left as well. His legs were shaky from lack of food and he stumbled his way through Boston. He walked up to a group of girls and put on his best smile. “Do any of you know the date?”_

  _One of the girls looked down at her phone. “July 16.”_

  _And Jeremy froze. They were taken August 1. It had been just under year. “Thanks,” he mumbled and walked away, his mind still reeling. No way he had been there that long. Jeremy eventually found a pay phone._

  _“Who is this?” the voice on the other side answered._

  _“Hey, Hullum. It’s Jeremy.”_

  _Matt gasped. “Jeremy! I thought you were dead. It’s been almost a year.”_

  _“Yeah I know. What do you know about the situation?”_

  _“I know you were kidnapped and now McLean’s pissed at you. There’s a million dollar bounty on your head. You need to get out of here.”_

  _“Okay,” Jeremy responded and hung up. Then he left._  

$$$$$$$$$$

Jeremy stared up at men surrounding him, each of their faces conveying the horror of his story. Then: “I didn’t think you guys were coming for me. I didn’t think I was worth it to you.”

 “Lil J, we will always come for you. We’re never gonna leave you behind,” Geoff said with a smile.

 “I know, but it was just so long and I got scared.”

 Ryan nodded understandingly. “We were looking for you the entire time. We just didn’t expect them to bring you out of Los Santos, and let alone all the way to Massachusetts. Now let’s focus on you getting better and we can all go back home.”

 Another smile graced Jeremy’s face and tears brimmed in his eyes. “Thanks guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed. Comments are appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10

They spent another month in the hospital before the doctor finally cleared Jeremy. Michael, Gavin, and Ryan had volunteered to go home three weeks earlier to get a grip on the situation back in Los Santos, but Geoff and Jack stayed with Jeremy. They were the obvious choices; Geoff refused to leave Jeremy’s side and Jack was the best medic of the main crew. They were wheeling him back from another round of physical therapy when they met a doctor outside his room.

“What?” Jeremy asked quietly, refusing to get his hopes up.

“We’ve done all that we can for you here. You’re free to go.”

At that, Jeremy turned and looked up at Geoff and Jack with a huge smile on his face. “You ready to go home?” A grin appeared across Geoff’s face and Jack nodded. They went back into the room and got a change of clothes. As Jeremy pulled off his light blue, hospital-issued shirt, Geoff winced. Most of the cuts had already scarred over, but the burn was as obvious as ever. Geoff helped him change his shirt then wheeled the lad downstairs.

Jack got medicine from the doctor and instructions for continued exercises while Geoff brought Jeremy outside for the first time since his capture. It struck him then how thin Jeremy was now. He was pale and dark circles had formed around his eyes. But somehow, the wonder and excitement in his eyes made this all seem small. He broke into a wide, open-mouthed grin, showing off his missing teeth, and Geoff quickly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, wanting to always remember that the even the little things can inspire you sometimes.

Jack came out and they all headed towards the car. Geoff picked up Jeremy and set him down in the back seat while he and Jack climbed up front. Jeremy rode the whole way to the plane with his window open and his head stuck out it, almost like a dog. On the plane, he worked on trying to write; it was a major part of his PT and his handwriting had greatly improved. During his first session, he couldn’t even hold the pencil, but now his handwriting was almost back to normal.

Geoff couldn’t help but imitate Jeremy’s infectious smile as he went to join Jack in the cockpit.

“He doing okay?” Jack asked, concerned and Geoff nodded. “Yeah, he’s good.”

The plane ride was uneventful and Jeremy slept through the last hour. As they prepared to land, Geoff went and woke Jeremy up. “Ready to see everybody?”

Jeremy responded with a nod and Geoff chose to ignore the look of doubt that flashed across his face. Jack easily landed the plane and got Jeremy’s wheelchair out for him. As soon as they exited the plane, Jeremy could see the rest of the crew including the B-team rushing towards them. Matt and Trevor reached them first and almost knocked him over. Jack grabbed the wheelchair from behind and pushed it back up. Matt and Trevor hesitated for a second and then went in for gentler hugs.

But Jeremy hated the hesitation he saw on everybody’s face. He hated the way they looked at him like he was broken. And the worst part was that he knew he was. He had watched this crew fight through injuries, but they'd be out of the action for a couple weeks at most. Jeremy had been _asleep_ for two weeks. He remembered when Geoff had told him how long he’d been in clutches of Shannon, he had freaked. The doctors actually had to give him sedatives so he would calm down. Lindsay reached them and bent down to hug Jeremy.

"I missed you Lil J," she said and Jeremy smiled.

"Missed you too, Lindsay. How have things been going?"

"Pretty good," she responded just before Michael came over and gave her a hug. Then he hugged Jeremy as well and told Jack to move over so he could push the lad. As they headed towards the car, Geoff broke off from the group and headed towards Caleb.

He caught him right before Caleb climbed into his car. “Did you look at the x-rays I sent?” Geoff asked and Caleb nodded.

“May I ask why you sent them? Didn’t the doctor give you a verdict?”

“I just want a second opinion,” Geoff responded, hoping he didn’t sound too desperate.

“It’s not great,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “To put it simply, his legs are fucked. There is a small possibility he could walk again, but he won’t be able to keep up with you. Heisting is out of the realm of possibilities. Unfortunately, I believe Jeremy’s criminal life is over.”

Geoff nodded, remembering this was almost exactly what Jeremy had said in the hospital. “Also, can I ride back with you? They kinda left without me.”

“Kind of?” Caleb asked.

“Just get in the fucking car,” Geoff responded, getting into the passenger seat

“Is that any way to talk to your ride?” Caleb asked as he climbed in beside Geoff.

The ride back was pretty smooth and they arrived only a few minutes after the other, but a party was already in full swing. After a couple hours of games and drinking and drinking games, Ryan, Lindsay, and Geoff were the only sober ones (Geoff had stopped drinking while Jeremy was in the hospital) and Geoff noticed that Jeremy wasn’t in the room.

“Hey, does anyone know where Lil J is?” Geoff called out.

“What was that, Geoff?” Gavin asked at the same time Michael said, “How did you manage to lose a wheelchair-bound man?” Matt and Trevor laughed at that and Geoff shook his head, exasperated at the drunk idiots that lay before him.

Geoff went to Jeremy’s room and was surprised to find it empty. He went back to find Ryan and they went through each of the rooms, but each ended up empty.

“Is there anywhere else that he could’ve gone?”  Ryan asked as they closed the door to the final room. Geoff shrugged then begin to think harder.

“There was one place he always used to go after heists especially if he got hurt, but it was on the roof. It’d be impossible for him to get there now.”

Ryan nodded, “We have a balcony, maybe he went there.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Geoff agreed. The two wove through the large house and ended up by the sliding glass door which they could see Jeremy through. “I’m going to stay in here; you go talk to him,” Ryan said trying hard not to overwhelm Jeremy. So Geoff slowly slid the door and stepped out behind Jeremy.

“You’re getting around pretty well in that thing,” Geoff said slowly. He was trying hard not to startle Jeremy, but the lad still jumped in his chair. After getting over the initial shock, he turned around to face Geoff. “I mean it,” Geoff continued. “After all, you got out here without anyone noticing.”

Jeremy laughed. “That’s because they’re all fucking drunk.”

“Well, that may be true, but Ryan and I are sober,” Geoff agreed. There’s another short laugh from Jeremy and Geoff realizes how much he missed that.

The two sat next to each other, enjoying the warm weather of Los Santos. They stayed there until the sun rose and they could hear people begin to wake up. Geoff turned to go back inside but Jeremy stopped him.

“Hey, Geoff,” Jeremy said with a little tired slur in his voice.

“Yeah, kid?”

“I think the house is discriminatory.”

“What?” Geoff questioned, genuinely confused.

“There’s too many stairs. I don’t think it likes people in wheelchairs.”

Geoff laughed at the obviously delirious man. “I think we can fix that.”

Jeremy laughed and nodded. “Good.” As Geoff went back inside, he could hear Jeremy drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of happiness for everyone


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy. Also I wrote this on my phone so please excuse any spelling mistakes.

Jeremy woke up screaming, his nightmares ripping him from a peaceful sleep and throwing him back into the events of the last few months. Sweat and tears ran down his face and he tried to stifle his cries before he woke somebody else up. The first few nights everyone had raced into his room, startled by the sudden screams, but, as the nightmares came more often, it dwindled down to just Jack. Silent sobs racked his body. He tried to compose himself, tried to slow the tears, stop the shaking. A hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder, making him flinch and scramble away. ****  
** **

He looked up to see Jack standing at the foot of the bed with his hands up in air, silently promising not to harm Jeremy. And as much as Lil J wanted to feel the comforting touch of Jack, his body couldn't deal with human touch, it refused to accept that not everyone was out to hurt him. The crew couldn't even get to him during the day. He would sit in the corner of the living room until the noise level was too high and he would retreat back into his room until dinner.  ****  
** **

Of course, he had good days. Days when you could barely tell anything had happened. When the scars on his uncovered arms and the wheelchair were the only signs. But as soon as he let down his guard and someone accidently moved too close, there would be a split second when his eyes would fill with fear and he would pull away from the contact. Sometimes it was subtle enough that only Jack noticed, but sometimes he would visibly jump. But the worse part was he always needed help. He couldn't avoid contact even if he wanted to. ****  
** **

They were trying to help, trying to help him deal with the loud noise and contact. But it was hard.  ****  
** **

"It's okay, Jeremy. I'm not gonna hurt you. You're safe now." ** **  
****

Jeremy's eyes refocused on Jack who had sat beside him. He didn't make a move to reach out and touch him for which Jeremy was grateful. They stayed there, sitting side by side, until Jeremy fell asleep, so tired he didn't even noticed he was leaning on Jack.  ****  
** **

When Jeremy awoke the next day, he was once again alone. His wheelchair was up against the bed so he swung his legs around so he was sitting just in front of the wheelchair and eased himself off the bed til he was safely sitting down. He wheeled himself out the door and into the kitchen. The house was much more wheelchair friendly now and portable ramps had been set up on most of the stairs though there were a few staircases that they still had to carry him up. Most of the crew was already there except for Jack. A few minutes later, Jack joined and Geoff immediately passed him a cup of coffee.  ****  
** **

When he joined them at the table, Jeremy could see why. Jack's eyes were a bright red and dark bags had formed underneath them. He felt bad. He was the one causing Jack to wake up in the middle of the night and stay up for hours to make sure he was okay. Jeremy tried to make eye contact with Jack to subtly say sorry, but the man kept his eyes averted and on the warm cup of coffee.  ****  
** **

Now that he was thinking about it, everyone seemed to be worn down and guarded. He looked around the table and Gavin quickly looked down while Ryan met his eyes, but didn't erase the wary look that was poorly disguised by a smile. Only Michael seemed to be unaffected by the mood. Michael caught his eye and flashed a quick smile, but Jeremy couldn't find the strength to return it. As soon as he finished his meal, he wheeled back to his room, desperate to escape the suffocating mood of the room. ****  
** **

_Maybe I'm just a burden. Maybe they don't want me around anymore. Maybe I should just leave._ Jeremy sighed as he entered the dark room. He went over to his desk where he had spent more and more time at, drawing, writing, and, just in general, embracing his creative side. His walls were covered in pictures: of the crew, of people he had long since left behind, of fictional characters he created, of himself. ****  
** **

Today, though, he was working on something that he knew he shouldn't have started, but he refused to forget their faces. So he continued to draw them and fought through the haze in his mind. He drew every detail he could remember and two hours later, the faces of his torturers stared back at him. He added the picture to his wall beside all the other and went to the only other thing that kept him occupied, his physical therapy.  ****  
** **

When he quit three hours later, his hand and legs ached, but it was a good, accomplished kind of ache. Not too long later, he heard a knock on his door.  ****  
** **

"Come on in," he casually called, forgetting everything that had happened at breakfast. Geoff entered, wearing the same guarded expression as earlier.

"What's up, Geoff?" Jeremy asked and smiled, trying not to read into his countenance. ****  
** **

"I, um, I wanted to talk to you. Um, we're planning another heist and, uh," Geoff rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Uh, well, obviously you can't participate, so we thought about bringing in Trevor. What do you think?" ** **  
****

Jeremy smiled again, though he hated being reminded how useless he was. "I think that's a great idea. Everyone on B-team has certain specialties, but Treyco's more of a jack-of-all-trades." ** **  
** **

"Thanks, Jeremy," Geoff said. "Thanks for understanding." ** **  
****

Jeremy nodded. "Good luck." ** **  
** **

$$$$$$$$$$ ****  
** **

"Trevor, will you please get rid of those cops?" Ryan said, exasperated.  ** **  
****

"On it," Trevor responded and a couple seconds the cops outside the bank dropped. The heist was hectic. The crew was unused to working with Trevor and wished they had Jeremy who seemed to know exactly what they needed without them even saying anything.  ** **  
****

Of course they couldn't blame Trevor. He was obviously used to working with his team too. He was trying. All they had to do was give a vague description of what they need and it would be done. But those few precious seconds, seconds where Jeremy no longer needed to be told what to do, cost them a lot and the cops had arrived at the bank 2 minutes before the crew had originally planned.  ****  
** **

But still, they'd gotten away with most of the money and only a graze on Jack's arm. They walked into the penthouse stressed and still high off of the adrenaline rush.  ****  
** **

Gavin and Michael pretty much immediately left, disappearing into a bar or some slum, seemingly desperate to get into more trouble. Ryan went to his room where he methodically washed away the blood on his hands and clothes and then tried to forget Jeremy's dilemma and how fucking lucky he was that had never suffered an injury like that. Geoff and Jack went to the balcony to fix Jack's arm then tried to calm down. Trevor just left and went back to his house. So it wasn't until morning that they noticed the note on the table.  ****  
** **

_Thanks so much for putting up with me. From the day you pulled me off the street til now. But I'm afraid I'm just a burden now. And I know I'm weak and I know it wouldn't have been long before you wanted me gone either, no matter how much you deny it. So I thought I would speed up the process. But it's okay, maybe it's just time for me to do something for myself again. There's no reason to come looking for me. You've done enough already. Thanks for everything._

_~Jeremy_


	12. Chapter 12

Today marked the second anniversary of Jeremy's leaving. But none of the crew was thinking about that. Sure, once they returned to their penthouse, they would each disappear and mourn in their own way, but for now they were more concerned with the line of people in front of them. ****  
** **

They sat in a warehouse that, up until a few moments ago, had been controlled by a rookie gang in town. The gang was smart, but they were a little too cocky and eventually just the annoyance drove the Fakes to wipe their petty organization from the Earth. This warehouse was full of the remaining members.  ****  
** **

The door banged open, and Ryan and Michael dragged in the last member, the one who had been giving them the most trouble. Most of the man's face was obscured by a brown cowboy hat that had somehow stayed on even though Ryan and Michael had been chasing him. There was a rapidly growing blood stain on his pants and Gavin smiled when the man hissed as his gloved hands were zip tied and he was shoved down into a kneeling position beside the other members.  ****  
** **

Gavin turned his attention to Geoff who was pacing in front of the men. "I'm sure you all know who we are and what we've done to, well, everyone, but in this case, specifically the rest of you. Now, we could let you live, but that just sounds boring. Though it is your choice on how that death comes about. So give me your money and I will grant you a fast death. Piss me off and Vagabond gets his turn." ****  
** **

At that, Ryan walked down the line, staring each of the men down and twirling his knife. But the cowboy bothered Gavin. He was looking at the ground, just like everyone else, keeping his eyes averted from the Vagabond, but on his face a small smirk was present rather than the terrified look that covered the other members' faces. When Ryan reached the end, he knelt down and pushed his fingers into the bullet wound, pulling a soft grunt from the man. Even though Gavin couldn't see his face, he could tell Ryan was more than a little disappointed with the reaction.  ****  
** **

Some of the gang members jumped at the chance to receive a quick death, but the cowboy stayed on the ground looking towards the floor. The small smile was still there and it was really beginning piss Gavin off. Later, he would ask Ryan to make sure he broke the cowboy. Gavin turned back to the rest of the crew and hopped up to join them. They stood in a circle, laughing and joking, excited to be almost done with this job and ready to move on to something new. And in that moment, he thought of how much Jeremy would enjoy being here, how much his smile would add. He would make some stupid joke and his laughter— A gunshot interrupted Gavin's thoughts and his ears started ringing.  ****  
** **

He looked around to see one the members on the floor with blooding pooling out from a small hole in his forehead. There was a gun a few inches from his hand and it was obvious he had been planning to shoot the Fakes while they were distracted. But he wasn't dead by any of the Fakes hands; everyone else looked just as surprised. Instead cowboy was standing up with his hands no longer zip tied and a purple gun pointed towards them. But Geoff and Jack must've seen something Gavin didn't because they ran forward, crying and practically tackled the man. As they wrapped their arms around him and Gavin stared on in shock, the cowboy hat slowly fell off his head and— Jeremy. ****  
** **

Gavin ran forward and jumped into Jeremy's arms. Jeremy caught him, but dropped him a moment later with a soft groan. "You know, I do still have a bullet in my leg," he said, but Gavin didn't care because here was Jeremy, in the flesh, hugging Gavin, and... walking.  ****  
** **

By this time, Ryan and Michael had gotten over their shock and came over to hug Lil J, albeit much gentler than Gavin. Michael looked at the ground, sheepishly, "Sorry about the leg, Lil J." And Jeremy could see every question burning in their eyes, but the Fakes turned back to the job though Jack stayed right next to Jeremy the entire time with his hand on his shoulder.  ****  
** **

$$$$$$$$$ ****  
** **

The six of them sat in a circle, laughing, joking, and crying, genuinely happy for the first time in two years. Jeremy had kinda been forced to the center as if they were protecting him, afraid that he would leave again.  ****  
** **

"How?" Gavin asked, causing some conversations to come to a halt. "Why?" ** **  
****

"Why did I leave?" Jeremy asked and Gavin nodded. "Well, you read my note. I didn't want to force you to kick me out, so I just left. I thought it would be easier. It was hard for me, you know, to learn how to certain things without help. But I worked hard and eventually I regained my strength and taught myself to walk again. Caleb helped out a bit. He gave me a brace, but I begged him not to tell you." Jeremy pulled up his pants leg and revealed a brace wrapped around one leg. "Without this, I don't know if my leg could hold me." ** **  
****

"Why didn't you come back? Why'd you join that gang?" ** **  
****

"I didn't think you'd want me back. I thought you were fine without me." ** **  
****

Geoff came to sit down by the younger man and put his hand on his shoulder. "You can always come back. We never wanted you to leave. It doesn't matter what's happening, we will always be here for you." ** **  
** **

Jeremy nodded and brushed tears from his eyes. "Thanks Geoff." ****  
** **

The rest of them joined the two and the six fell asleep on the rug with Jeremy forced into the middle.

$$$$$$$$$$ ****  
** **

Of course things didn't go back to how they'd been before Jeremy's kidnapping. Jeremy still needed help with certain things and he walked with a heavy limp though he could still keep up during heists. They still had to bring B-team in a couple times when a heist was too difficult, required extreme stunts, or Jeremy was simply too sore or tired. And sometimes Jeremy would suffer from nightmares and sometimes before heists Jack would have to help him through a panic attack. ** **  
** **

But it didn't matter because Jeremy was back where he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we've reached the end of the story. Thanks to everyone who commented, left kudos, and critiqued me. Your support is appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever post on, like, anything. So please help me. I have no idea what I'm doing. Constructive criticism please.


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